preperation of pork ribs

travelingman,
try this
start at the fat end where the chine bone is (this is the funny looking bone going kind of diagonal). at the bone of the 1st rib take a good sharp paring knife and cut thru the membrane. take the tip of your knife and slowly work up a nice piece that you can pull on. get that started (myself i use a tiny pair of needlenose pliers cause i got fat fingers) now working nice and slow work the membrane until you have a piece large enough to hang onto with a dry, clean towel. just keep working and at times you may have to resort back to the knife to coax it along.
and that's how i do it
hope this helps
jack

Paper towel works really well - just pry up a corner of the membrane and use a small piece of paper towel, maybe 2" square to get a grip on the membrane. Easy as pie.

Good comments about the membrane, check out a link below for a photo of what to do.

You don't "have" to remove it, just most people do. If it's that difficult, until you practice, just score it in multiple places with a knife and that will work, if it's too hard to pull off.

For other questions, I'd start here, and also read some of the "rib" archives:

Pork Ribs 101

You know, prior to doing my 1st CookShack ribs, I read and read the forum about them, especially Smokin's 101. So I knew I had to get that membrane off.
Well, I stared and stared at those ribs, tryig to find a loose end of the membrane to pull on. I thought, "Mannnnnn, I'm gonna screw these things up on my 1st try cause I cant get this d!*% membrane off."
Then it hit me like ton of rocks........my friendly neighborhood meat cutter already removed the membrane for me! I was sure glad nobody from the forum was there to watch me puzzle over that!

Thank you members for your help on my first time with pork ribs. Helped a lot.
Cooked my pork ribs!!!! Had no luck on getting the membrane off . My wife got disgusted and told me to just score the heck out of it which I did. She said this earlier but was afraid I would ruin them. Then thanks to Smokin Okie I guess she was right. Put on a rub, let set for about 30 minutes. Pre heated cooker at 200 & started my practice cooking. Turned out great.
Cooked chicken legs & thighs on lower rack, two small London Broil on top rack, ribs on center rack. Took out chicken first after 2 hours cooking. Spare ribs took about 3 hours. London took almost 7 hours. Cooked all at about 250. This was an experience in 15 degree weather with snow & ice on the ground.

Traveling Man

Very good rib prep info. from the TVWB web site. Even has some video.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/ribselect1.html#prep

John

travelingman: this works for me on spares or babys.i use a plane table knife, slid the tip under the membrane on top of each bone at the end, pushing the knife as for down the top of the bone as i can and lifting the handle of the knife often to loosen the membrane. yep, can't beat those needlenose pliers jack taled about, they work real well. learning as where the fun is. paul

I use a regular pair of pliers, works great after starting the silverskin seperation with a thin knife.

smokemullet

I did my first ribs. Not to bad. Now when I do my second ones with your help I am sure they will be more to perfection. Thanks ,Grumpster for your input. Now with all info from members I think I'm on my way. This is a great site for slow cooking & getting the best flavor of meats. I will continue to check for improvement . I need all the help I can get as I am still beginner on smoking.

Traveling Man